It is generally assumed that Proto-Eldarin lost its final sounds before the Quenya stage. For examples Q. ''[[alda]]'' and S. ''[[galadh]]'' have been falsely attributed to a PE word **''galdar'', with loss of ''-r''; the plural form **''galdari'' produced Q. pl. ''aldar''. In the [[Common Telerin|Sindarin branch]], the form **''gald'' produced S. ''galadh'' through [[epenthesis]] (called ''svarabhakti'' in the book).

It is generally assumed that Proto-Eldarin lost its final sounds before the Quenya stage. For examples Q. ''[[alda]]'' and S. ''[[galadh]]'' have been falsely attributed to a PE word **''galdar'', with loss of ''-r''; the plural form **''galdari'' produced Q. pl. ''aldar''. In the [[Common Telerin|Sindarin branch]], the form **''gald'' produced S. ''galadh'' through [[epenthesis]] (called ''svarabhakti'' in the book).

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The analysis also correctly supposed the existence of initial nasal stops, such as ''mb-'' which evolved to Q. ''m-'' and S. ''b-''. Ironically, recent evidence from ''The Silmarillion'' was deemed as incompatible to that theory, and showed that the evidence for the nasal stops was only a result of coincidence. However, ''The Etymologies'' confirmed that initial nasal stops indeed existed in the PQ stage (cf. words like ''[[ndōro]]'', ''[[mbandō]]'', ''[[ñgōlē]]'').

+

The analysis also correctly supposed the existence of initial nasal stops, such as ''mb-'' which evolved to Q. ''m-'' and S. ''b-''. Ironically, the foreword of the book mentions that the theory was deemed as incompatible to new Elvish found the recent ''Silmarillion'', and showed that the evidence for the nasal stops was only a result of coincidence. However, ''The Etymologies'' confirmed that initial nasal stops indeed existed in the PQ stage (cf. words like ''[[ndōro]]'', ''[[mbandō]]'', ''[[ñgōlē]]'').

==References==

==References==

Revision as of 00:06, 27 June 2011

An Introduction to Elvish and to Other Tongues, Proper Names and Writing Systems of the Third Age of the Western Lands of Middle-Earth as Set Forth in the Published Writings of Professor John Ronald Reuel Tolkien was a book by Jim Allan that discussed the languages of Middle-earth.

There is also a "Baby-book" with all the known Germanic, Celtic and other real-world ("translated") Hobbit names by category and gender, along with their etymologies.

Writing systems

An extensive section with analyses of the Tengwar and Cirth in which aims to be more clear and readable presentation of the information of Appendix E, followed by theoretical and structural background, with a possible history of their evolution through time.

Examples of English-tengwar texts used by fans are given, with analyses and commentaries.

The book was complete in 1977 but publication was halted for a year. The Silmarillion was published in the meantime which included new material that (in few points) obsoleted the theories of the book. A year later, and while the book was still in a hiatus, Jim Allan wrote about those points in the postscript of his Foreword; he points out that updating the text by incorporating the new information would not be possible, and encourages critical comparison by the reader.

Since 1977, a great amount of material was published in the History of Middle-earth series, not to mention magazines such as Vinyar Tengwar and Parma Eldalamberon; while the fans consent that the book is one of the best and more serious works[1], new material renders the theories incomplete or outdated. In reality some of its parts, like the one concerning real-world names and the writing systems, still provide useful information.

Proto-Eldarin

In two articles by Christopher Gilson and Bill Welden attempt to shed light to the common language of the Elves "of the First Age". The authors claim to have seen some unpublished writings by Tolkien, which may explain how the PE reconstructions correctly end in long vowels. Of course, with limited material (The Etymologies and similar works where Tolkien discusses Primitive Quendian and Roots were not published until 10 years later) there were some implausible reconstructions. For example, the words vilya and gwai are treated as cognates, derived from PE **wigyā.

The theories also described the evolution of Sindarin through words of palatal-final consonants (-ᶅ, -ɲ, -ᶉ) which sometimes caused i-affection. For example *winjā > *weiɲ (written weiny) > -wain. The Etymologies and other works have revealed the evolution of Sindarin through Common Telerin and Old Noldorin where *winjā would evolve to *winia.

It is generally assumed that Proto-Eldarin lost its final sounds before the Quenya stage. For examples Q. alda and S. galadh have been falsely attributed to a PE word **galdar, with loss of -r; the plural form **galdari produced Q. pl. aldar. In the Sindarin branch, the form **gald produced S. galadh through epenthesis (called svarabhakti in the book).

The analysis also correctly supposed the existence of initial nasal stops, such as mb- which evolved to Q. m- and S. b-. Ironically, the foreword of the book mentions that the theory was deemed as incompatible to new Elvish found the recent Silmarillion, and showed that the evidence for the nasal stops was only a result of coincidence. However, The Etymologies confirmed that initial nasal stops indeed existed in the PQ stage (cf. words like ndōro, mbandō, ñgōlē).